Rydia ran down the mountain's foothills at breakneck speed. She was running towards the sounds of fighting and screaming. They had begun mere moments ago, but Rydia was deep in guilt. She had split from her main entourage of royal guards in order to find a brief moment of peace, and had thus selfishly put them in danger. Now she was en route to save those that had been given the task of defending her.
There were many treacherous steps in these foothills, but she trudged on with ease with only one thing on her mind, the safety of those she called her subjects. Rydia could hear footsteps following close behind her, of whom she figured belonged to the "Treasure Hunter" trying to be the hero of the day, but she did not care to find out either way. She would find out soon enough when she reached her destination.
Her heart was pounding as she turned the final rock formation that would bring her to the clearing where the battle ensued. The pounding in her chest was not due to exhaustion, as she was in excellent physical shape after all she had been through with Cecil and Edge. The pounding was her body preparing to battle, while she took in the horrible sights before her. She was getting angry, both at the creatures for their actions, and at herself for leaving them to their terrible fate.
There were eight guards in all that had been assigned to defend Queen Rydia. They had formed a circle trying to fend off many young flamedogs that had surrounded them, but there were just too many and their numbers were slowly dwindling. Only three men still stood. They were bloody and bruised, and one could tell that they would not be walking away from this without assistance. Rydia took a deep breath and took a step forward, preparing to move in, when a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind.
"I applaud your courage, but perhaps you should leave the heroics to the heroes, your highness," Stated 'Bandit' from behind her.
Rydia looked over her shoulder and stared at 'Bandit' with contempt in her eyes. "And I suppose you think you qualify as a hero," She snarled, causing 'Bandit' to back off of her, and remove his hand from her shoulder. It was obvious she had no appreciation for his condescending attitude, especially since she was the Queen of this area. Rydia turned fully around to face 'Bandit' and continued her monologue. "I need no permission from the likes of you to take action on a situation that threatens my people," Rydia pointed out, before running off down the remaining ten yards of the hill, and landing on flat ground.
There were now only two guards remaining, standing back-to-back for support and defense. You could see in their eyes that they had given up on surviving this ordeal. They fought on, but there was no heart in their movements. Two weary warriors surrounded by at least fifty young flame dogs. Though they were young, they were easily larger than a fully-grown dog that many people kept as pets. Adult flamedogs could grow to be as large as fully-grown mountain bears; they could look you square in the eyes while still standing on all four legs.
Rydia ran up within 10 yards of the battle scene, and from even there, she could feel the intense heat generated from these creatures. They were not called flame dogs for nothing, as their entire body was covered in fire. If a flame dog were to die, the flames would die away, seeing that they were created by the flamedog as a natural defense mechanism. However, the flames had a drawback. If somehow the flames were ever extinguished, the beast would also die, as their blood would freeze up in their system without the heat produced, keeping their blood in liquid form. In essence, the fire that covered them was their life force.
She just stood there for a moment, knowing that her mere scent would alert the flamedogs of her presence. As expected, there was the sound of several flamedogs sniffing at the air, and then turning around to notice her. One of them growled, and caught the attention of most of the others. Flamedogs were easy to bore, and always looking for fresh meat, which always seemed to be sweeter on females. The quicker the kill, the tenderer the flesh tended to be. Seeing what they instinctively knew was an easy kill, and better meat, the majority of the flamedogs decided to make her their evening meal. As they approached, Rydia took several steps back, drawing them away from the guards, who by now realized Rydia had come, and were somehow rejuvenated with hope.
After several steps, Rydia began her low chanting, preparing a spell. Just then, 'Bandit' came from behind her and got into a defensive position. "Fear not, I will save you," 'Bandit' proclaimed as he prepared for battle.
'Bandit', with his sword drawn, began to advance on the flame doge, when "ICE3" came from behind him. Bandit was surprised that this woman had known such a high level magic spell, but it did not matter now that magic had been destroyed.
"Magic has been de..."Bandit began, turning his head to Rydia, and seeing her hands glowing a brilliant white. Instinctively, he ducked, just as a blizzard erupted from her hands in a conical spray, showering the flamedogs with it. The majority of the flamedogs were caught. The ice extinguished their flames, and burned their skin like acid. The flamedogs who had managed to avoid the attack dispersed in haste, now fearing for their lives.
'Bandit' rose to his feet as the spell ended with a slack jaw, similar to his reaction when he first learned magic existed.
"What's the matter, never seen magic before?" Rydia mocked before trailing off in thought. 'How could this thief have never witnessed magic, it is not uncommon?' Rydia walked past a still shocked 'Bandit' and toward her fallen guards. They had all eventually been killed by the flamedogs. Even the two that had been alive when she arrived had been killed, and there was nothing she could do to revive them.
"That was m… m… m… m…" 'Bandit' attempted to speak, but the next word seemed to be caught in his throat.
"Magic," Rydia finished for him. "So what? I use magic all the time."
'Bandit' took a deep breath in order to compose himself before speaking "But magic ceased to exist after the destruction of the Three Goddess Statues."
Rydia turned toward 'Bandit' slowly, and looked at him confusion. "What are you talking about? It is common knowledge that the Crystals are the source of all magic," she explained.
'Bandit' was likewise confused. He looked down to his belt and opened a pouch on his right side. He then proceeded to pull out a crystalline object about three inches in height and one inch in diameter. The outer edges were colored red, while the inner area was a bluish green color. The whole object faintly shimmered. He held I up in his hand, and directed Rydia's attention to it. "This is a Magicite Shard. It is through this stone that an Esper can be summoned. The espers grant their magical abilities to their wielder, allowing them to cast magic spells," 'Bandit' explained, wondering how it was that Rydia could cast magic, but had no knowledge of Espers and Magicite. "However, once the Three Goddess Statues were destroyed two years ago, the magical properties derived from these shards have withered, and disappeared," He finally finished.
Rydia looked at 'Bandit' in total disbelief. 'How could someone derive magic from one of these Esper things?' She wondered. She still didn't believe him, but there was something about the way he explained these Magicite Shards and Espers that made her wonder. He explained them without any stuttering or redirection, which were common signs of a lie. He also spoke of them with great zest, as if their existence was common knowledge. If 'Bandit' was indeed telling her the truth, then these events could help her to understand why her call monsters had stopped aiding her. After all, it was about two years ago that they stopped coming, around the same time that these "Three Goddess Statues" had supposedly been destroyed. This cannot be just a coincidence.
"Interesting," Rydia finally spoke at length. "I would like to hear more about these statues and their origin, however I must return to Eblan, as the hour is growing late," she continued. "I also must see to it that the families of these warriors hear of their untimely demise."
"Why don't you revive them with your magic?" 'Bandit' asked innocently, wondering why she just let them die. Surely if she could use the powerful ICE3 she knew a LIFE spell.
"Unfortunately I am only proficient in the Black Magic Arts," Rydia explained receiving a look of total confusion, one she had sported a moment ago. "Not everyone can cast both Black and White spells. It takes a lot of training if each field separately," she explained.
'Training? What does she mean by that,' 'Bandit' wondered. 'The espers imbue their magical abilities onto their wielder as they gain experience with the shard, there is no training involved'
"The amount of training required to master both types of magic is quite extensive, and takes many years," Rydia concluded.
"It would appear that your derivation of magic is different than ours," 'Bandit' observed. "Could it be that there are two unique magical essences on Earth?"
"It would seem so," Rydia conceded. "Perhaps it is time to seek out a higher source of knowledge regarding this," Rydia suggested. "Return with me to Eblan and in the morning we shall go to Mysidia and discuss this with the elder there."
"As you wish your highness. I shall protect you from the dangers of the wild as you return to your castle," 'Bandit' proclaimed, once again reverting to his caviler mentality.
"Oh brother," was Rydia's only remark as she began to walk off in the direction of Eblan, with 'Bandit' close behind.
Cecil, Kain and Rosa looked up in surprise, as the light engulfing the Great Imp faded. The coward imp also looked in fear. What they all saw was the charred remains of a great imp falling to the ground in death's grip. The imp that stood there, seeing his Chieftain slain, began to run off. He never really wished to fight anyway. The imp got as far as the edge of the road, when a volley of arrows came through the smoke at a great speed using the imp as a pincushion.
Kain readied his lance, preparing himself to fend off any attack. "In the name of the King of Baron, identify yourselves. We are en-route to meet a visiting king, and must make haste."
As the smoke finally cleared around the Great imp, Cecil, Kain and Rosa could see three people standing beyond. Standing across the road were three men who appeared no less battle hardened then they were. The one in the center stepped up to introduce himself. He wore a green suit of light armor with purple borders, his cape blowing in the wind. The cape was green on the inside, and purple out. He wore white boots that seemed to stick out because of the contrast in color. He had long blond hair kept neat in a ponytail that ran down to the small of his back.
He wore a sword on the left hand side of his belt, and carried various mechanical trinkets and tools. He currently held a crossbow in his hand that appeared to have been altered. Arrows hung from the crossbow in series parallel to one another. It seemed as if the crossbow was designed to automatically load another arrow as soon as the previous one was fired.
"Then it appears that you have arrived at your meeting…" The man explained with a smile. "…for I am Edgar Roni Figaro, King of Figaro." He said, introducing himself with a slight bow.
A tall man with an incredible muscular build stood to the left of him. It has not excessively bulky, but extremely toned. He wore a purple tank top and white pants fastened with a green sash. He had his arms crossed across his chest with both hands on top of his arms. There was a purple wristband and claw weapons on each hand. One could only expect that he practiced martial arts extensively. He too had blond hair that he kept in a ponytail, but it stopped a few inches below his neckline. The top of his hair was cut short and spiked.
"This is my brother Sabin Rene Figaro..." Edgar said motioning with his hand toward the tall muscular man, who simply smiled and nodded his head.
To the Right of Edgar, the third man stood in contrast to the other two. He wore a black coat with purple bordering that went down his ankles, where you could barely see a pair of purple shoes. The coat was closed, so nothing else was visible to any onlookers. He had long silver hair like Cecil, but longer. It went halfway down his back. He appeared to carry no weapon, though the deck of cards he carried in his hands seemed somewhat out of place.
"…and this is Setzer Gabbiani." He finished, allowing Setzer time to give a slight bow of respect to Cecil before he continued shuffling his cards.
Kane relaxed his spear as Cecil stepped forward. "I am Cecil, King of Baron." He began. "This is my wife, and Queen, Rosa, and this is my trusted friend and top military advisor, Kain Highwind" he said motioning to Rosa and Kain in turn.
"Ah, and a lovely queen she is," remarked Edgar, taking her hand and kissing it lightly.
"So, what brings the King of Figaro, the greatest country in the western hemisphere, all the way around the world to Baron?" Cecil questioned.
"Ah, right to business I see, well, that would best be discussed at the castle. You never know who may be hiding in the bushes." Edgar said with a smile.
"Why not discuss it here brother?" Sabin questioned with a smirk on his face. "You know it would be my pleasure to beat the crap out of anyone listening in," he finished, hoping to get into a fight.
"Didn't killing that Great Imp sate your appetite for destruction?" Edgar asked in frustration. A man who looked for a fight at all times was not the best person to bring as a bodyguard. They tended to create more fights than they prevented.
Cecil, Rosa and Kain looked at Sabin somewhat in awe. "That flash of light was you?" Cecil questioned.
"That was an Aura Bolt. If you ask me it's too powerful of an attack to waste on a weakling imp." Sabin confirmed.
"Anyway," Edgar interrupted turning his attention back to Cecil, "What prompts the King of Baron to leave his castle and greet his quests?" Edgar asked, leaving Cecil dumbfounded. He had not planned a response to that question.
"Cecil claimed it was some royal courtesy," Kain explained, with a smirk, after Cecil failed to produce and answer. "He said it was common for large figureheads to meet for the first time on neutral ground."
"Funny, I never heard of that one before…" Edgar commented, putting his hand to his chin. "…and I've been a king for some time now."
"Well…it's an eastern tradition." Cecil said in an attempt to cover his tracks.
Rosa started laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. "Come off of it, dear, we knew the whole time that you made that story up to get out of the castle."
Cecil felt his shoulders drop. 'I am the King. I should not have to explain myself to anyone. So why is it that I seem to do that more often than anything else?' he wondered.
Cecil, feeling a little embarrassed, allowed a sigh to escape his throat. "In any case, this is indeed the perfect setting for our first meeting. Let the blooming forest we not stand in represent the growth that the planet will undergo thanks to all of our efforts."
"Indeed. This forest has survived the calamity wrought two years prior. It, like the human race, not only survived but is also flourishing. With the two of us working together, there is no doubt in my mind that the human race will thrive and prosper, even in this post-apocalyptic planet we now live on." Edgar replied, liking the analogy Cecil had used.
Cecil let out another small sigh, this time it was one of relief. He was truly relieved that Edgar was here on a peaceful, diplomatic meeting and not to declare war on Baron. The talk of the townsfolk had unnerved him greatly.
"Let us return to the castle," Cecil decided. "The hour is getting late. I can have arrangements made for you to stay in the castle for the night." He offered.
"Yes it is getting late, and we have much to discuss," Edgar conceded. "Join me in the carriage will you?" Edgar invited Cecil and Rosa, motioning toward the carriage. "Sabin and Setzer can ride your chocobos back to Baron."
Cecil smiled and led Rosa to the carriage. After getting in, Kain, Sabin and Setzer boarded the chocobos and they all took off toward Baron Castle.
Once inside the Carriage, Cecil wasted no time getting to business. "So why have you come to Baron? Surely you are not in any need of military assistance."
Edgar smiled, "Perhaps tomorrow would be a better time. It is getting late, and I grow weary."
Cecil sat back in his seat defeated. Apparently he would have to wait until the morning. How Cecil hated waiting.